


A Beautiful Evening

by TheTroninator



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Platonic Kissing, Sweet, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 13:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20258605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTroninator/pseuds/TheTroninator
Summary: Toph can't tell what Sokka means when he says it's a beautiful evening.





	A Beautiful Evening

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatching A:TLA recently and thinking back on my Tokka shipping days. Obviously, Toph is a little young for Sokka, but this story is purely innocent. Takes place immediately after the shows's conclusion.

Toph sits on the warm ground just outside the teashop, fiddling with the hem of her tunic and trying not to listen as Sokka whispers to Suki. She hears every word anyway, though they aren't talking about anything that important. He's just telling her about how delicious Iroh's cream puffs are and that he would love to buy her some if Iroh would accept payment from anyone in the gang. She can hear Suki's soft laughter. 

Everyone seems happy tonight. Zuko and the gloomy girl, Katara and Aang, Iroh and his tea shop. Sokka and Suki. But what about Toph?

She feels Sokka's most minute movements. He's likely brushing Suki's hair behind her ear, like he's not even thinking about what he's doing, just as natural for him as breathing. Even though she can sense what everybody does, and even though she's blind, somehow people think what they do is private if she's not facing them. But she feels everything. She wishes now that she didn't. She wishes she didn't feel this way. Jealous of some girl when she is the greatest earthbender of all time. What did Suki have on her?

Suddenly, she feels footsteps coming in her direction and she knows it's him. She can tell by the length of his stride, the way he slaps his feet on the ground. But he does feel perkier than usual. He settles next to her. 

"Ah, Toph," Sokka says dreamily. "Isn't it a beaitiful evening?"

Toph snorts. "I don't know." 

"I don't mean how it looks. I mean how it feels. The warm breeze, the cicadas chirping, the calmness of it all. The war is over. We're at peace." He sighs.

"The work isn't over," says Toph.

"I know," he says. "But for now, I'm not making any plans."

"Wow, Sokka doesn't have a plan?" Toph mocks dryly. 

Sokka laughs, then changes the subject. "Why are you sitting out here alone?"

Toph shrugs, glad that he can't feel her heart, the way it beats a little faster when he's near. "Hey, um, speaking of beautiful," she says, "...is Suki?"

"What?" Sokka says, obviously suprised. Toph can tell he wasn't expecting that question by the drop in his voice and in his stomach. "Of course she is."

"And that's why you love her?" Toph has always been blunt.

She feels his heart race a bit, like maybe he's embarrassed. But he's never lied to her. "Love?" He asks. "I dont know, Toph. I like her because she's a great warrior. And she's kind. And her looks... they don't hurt. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," says Toph coolly. "You know I don't know what she looks like." And she's partially satisfied with his answer. He doesn't love her, she thinks. "She is a great fighter, though." Toph thinks about how Suki technically saved their lives when they were hovering on that airship, dangling over an inferno. If she had gone down then, she would have been content knowing she had gone down with Sokka. "You're a great fighter, too," she says after a moment.

"Thanks, Toph," he says.

Something suddenly comes over her. Maybe it's the smile in his voice or the way she can feel his hand on the ground just barely grazing her thigh. Or maybe it's just him. "I love you."

There's a deafening silence. She can feel him tense up for a second before he relaxes. He takes a breath to say something, but she decides to cut back in before he says something to ruin it.

"You're some of the only family I've got now. And I like how you take care of me, even though you don't have to. And you never make a big deal out of it."

"Toph, you know I would do anything for you," he says softly. 

Anything except love me back, Toph thinks.

It's almost as if Sokka can read her mind as he leans over and grabs the side of her face. He pulls her close to his chest, the same way he protected her on that airship from the falling debris. But he can't protect her from this. So he presses his lips to her temple. 

Toph feels her heart pounding as he pulls away. If she could see his face, she would see warm eyes, red cheeks, and a sad smile. But she can't see his face, so she punches him in the arm.

"Ow!" He squeals. It's for her benefit, since she knows she didn't punch him that hard. "What was that for?"

"So you'll forget what I said." 

Sokka rubs his arm, more out of habit than from pain. "I don't want to forget," he says. 

Toph burries her face on his shoulder so he can't see what she's sure is a crimson blush spreading across her cheeks.

After a moment, Toph's heart calms down. Sokka likewise is so restful, he almost feels like he is asleep. As the two sit in the dying light of the sunset, even without seeing it, Toph thinks she can finally understand what he meant when he said it was a beautiful evening.


End file.
